Boudoir and table lamp



March 5, 1940.

l E. SCHWARZ BOUDOIR AND TABLE LAMP Filed Oct; 1, 1938 onnann HwARz ATTORNEY.

o -l- E N INVENTOR. EUGENE 5c BY lfd/Mun Patented Mar. 5, 1940 UNITED t STATES BoUDom AND TABLE LAMP Eugene Schwarz, Alexandria, Ind., assignor to The Mantle Lamp Company of America, Chicago, Il1., a corporation of Illinois Application October 1, 1938, Serial No. 232,753

3 Claims.

My invention consists of a cast or pressed glass lamp stand including as an integral and unitary structure, a hollow base, a slender column and a head for supporting a lamp socket, which struc- 5 ture is adapted for use'for any purpose where small portable electric lamps are desired, such, for example, as boudoir and small table lamps, and particularly where it is desired that such lamps shall be decorative. y

` Heretofore, in connection with lamp stands of the kind under consideration, several practices have been'followed: rst, the electric conductors connected with the lamp socket have been permitted to emerge from the lamp stand immediate- 1li` ly-below the lamp socket and hang loosely from that point according to the connection of the conductors to supply the lamp with current; second, the lamp stand has been constructed of separate pieces, for example, a base and a glass 2g tube or stem, held together by a pipe usually of metal extending through the glass tube or stem and the base to contain the conductors and to hold the parts together, and usually serving also as a supporting connection for the lamp socket; and third, the lamp stand including the base and tubular stem have been made in one integral piece bya blowing or by a press and blow operation.

The rst practice referred to is open to the objection that exposed electrical conductors are unsightly and readily become tangled and engaged with objects surrounding the lamp stand; the objection to the second practice is that the cost of construction of the lamp stand is relatively large, and furthermore, decorative effects that may be desired cannot readily be secured; and the objection to the third practice is that the tubular stem must be so large laterally of the stem, as to be clumsy and unsightly for small lamp stands.

By my invention I overcome the objections to the practices referred to, by constructing the lamp stand as an integral and unitary pressed glass structure including a hollow base and a slender column extending upwardly from the base and provided at-its upper end with a head which is preferably threaded to engage similar threads on a supporting and connecting member' to which the lamp socket is secured. The electric conductors extending from the lamp socket are concealed by being contained in a groove in the surface of the slender column and which extends lengthwise of the column and preferably in its back surface'in use, and from the lower end of said groove the conductors extend through an aperture in the top wall of the base which `is adjacent to said groove, thus leading the conductors into the hollow base from which they pass through an aperture'in its side Wall and continue to any desired point to supply the lamp 5 i columns of the kind under consideration, the l0 columns cannot be made hollow by casting or pressing operations, unless they vare of much larger cross section than is permissible in producing slender columns of the kind referred to.

In describing the lamp stand as beingt made 15 of pressed glass I- include Within the meaning of that term any casting or molding operation by which the molten glass is given the desired form in a mold having the conformation of the finished lamp stand, whether the molding is eected by -20 mechanical pressure, by blowing, as by air under pressure, or in any other way, the mold being so constructed that the base, the slender column andthe head of the lamp stand are constructed as a single integral and unitary glass structure, 25 by a -single operation, the apertures inthe base being formed in any convenient manner in connection Withthe molding operation, for example, by employing removable plugs in the mold.

In constructing the lamp stand in accordance 30 Withmy invention, I prefer to use clearv or crystal glass on account of its decorative effects due to the refraction of light rays passing through it;

`and to obscure the electric conductors in the longitudinal groove in the back surface of the 35' slender column, I preferably provide the front and 'sides of the slender column with lens surfaces which so diffuse and disperse light rays projected from the electrical conductors through the clear glass of the column, that the outlines and detail of the electrical conductors are obscured tosuch a degree that said conductors are substantially invisible from the front and sides of the lamp stand. TheV lens surfacesreferred to may conveniently be cylindrical lens surfaces on the sides ofthe lamp stand and a series of spherical lens surfaces on the front of the slender column as belowdescribed, which lens surfaces besides effectively concealing the electrical conductors although the material of the lamp stand '50 is clear and transparent glass, also produce pleasing decorative eifects which may be supplemented by any other desired ornamental shapes applied purely for decorative purposes. The electrical conductors are preferably permanently secured in the longitudinal groove in the back surface of the slender column by suitable cement so that they will stay in place and not interfere in any Way with the handling of the lamp stand.

My invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawing illustrating a preferred embodiment thereof, in which- Fig. 1 shows my improved lamp in a front elevation,

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the lamp stand shown in Fig. l, with the lamp socket and mounting member removed,

Fig. 3 is a back View of the structure shown in Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a top view to an enlarged scale of the structure shown in Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view to an enlarged scale, through the structure shown in Fig. 1 taken along the line 5-5 of that figure, and

Fig. 6 is a vertical, central, sectional View to an enlarged scale, through the lower part of the lamp socket and mounting member. v

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

As shown in Fig. 1, my lamp construction con-A sists of a base IE! from which a slender column II extends upwardly, saidcolumn having at its upper end a head I2 having threaded engagement with an annular connecting member I3 which supports a lamp socket Ill above the column II. The base Ill, slender column II, and head I2, are an integral and unitary pressed glass structure made preferably of clear or crystal glass which may either be colored or uncolored as desired. While I do not limit myself specifically to any particular sizes of the parts, the meaning of the term slender column as used herein .may be illustrated by one practical construction of the invention in which the column is from 8 to l0" high and has an over-all diameter of about SA".

As indicated in Fig. 4, the base I0 is hollow at Illa, being provided with a side wall Ib', through which an aperture Ilic is formed to receive electrical conductors I5 as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. As also illustrated in Fig. 4, a second aperture Id is formed through the top wall of the base I0 adjacent to the lowerl end of a longitudinal groove IIa formed in the back surface ofthe slender column II, which groove IIa extends from top to bottom of the column I I and also through the head I2 at the upper end of said column. With this arrangement of the apertures Illc and I @d and groove IIa, the electrical conductors I5 in the completed lamp, pass through the apertures Ic and Id and upwardly in groove Ila to the lamp socket i4, the groove being of suicient size to entirely contain and conceal the electric conductors I5 as shown in Fig. 5.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the upper end of the head I2 is preferably provided with screw threads I2a to receive similar screw threads on the lower end of the connecting member I3 shown in Fig. 1, to support the lamp socket I4.

In assembling the parts of the complete lamp, the electric conductors I5 are rst mounted in the base and column Il as described and as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, this mounting of the conductors being readily accomplished in the column II, because of the groove IIa continuing through the head I 2 as well as through the screw threads I2a. formed on the upper end of said head. The groove IIa is preferably somewhat deeper in the head I2, as illustrated at IIb in Fig. 4, than it is in the column II below the head I2, so

`that the electric conductors I5 may be centered on emerging from the head to facilitate extending said conductors through the mounting member I3 into the lamp socket I4. The electric conductors are preferably held in the groove I Ia by suitable cement such as, for example, water glass. To complete the assembly of the lamp, the supporting member I3 is threaded over the upper ends of the electrical conductors I5 and tightly screwed in place on the threads I2a of the head I2, said supporting member I3 preferably having rigidly secured to it the lower separable portion of the lamp socket I4. The electrical conduc-tors are then connected to the terminals of the lamp socket in the usual manner, and the portions of the lamp socket are put together in operative relation and the assembly of the lamp is complete.

It will be noted that the screwing of the mounting member I3 on the threads I2a, provides a retaining member around the conductors I5 in the upper portion of the head I2, so that with the supporting member I3 screwed on the head I2, said conductors cannot be moved from the upper end IIb of the groove IIa.

As shown in Fig. 6, the mounting member I3 may be conveniently and rigidly secured to the socket I4, by means of an externally threaded and flanged sleeve I3a. extending through the member I3 and tightly screwed into internal threads in the ferrule I4a constituting the mounting support of the socket I 4.

As a result of the construction described, it will be noted that the electrical conductors I5 are entirely concealed from view when looking at the sides of the lamp stand as illustrated in Fig. 2. In front elevation, however, on account of the clear and transparent nature of the glass of which the lamp stand may be made, the electrical conductors would be clearly visible through the material of the column II, were some suitable means not provided to obscure the outlines of said conductors and make them practically invisible from the fr'ont of the lamp stand. The construction accomplishing the obscuring of the visibility of said conductors is an important part of the present invention and consists essentially of providing the column I I with lens surfaces IIe, IIf and IIy, the lens surfaces IIe and II as illustrated being cylindrical surfaces extending longitudinally of the column'along its sides, and the lens surfaces IIg as illustrated comprising a series of spherical lens surfaces arranged vertically on the front surface of the column so that they are closely adjacent to each other.

Besides imparting an ornamental appearance to the lamp stand, said lens surfaces have a pronounced optical effect on the visibility of the electrical conductors I5 through the material of the column II, as more clearly illustrated in Fig. 5. As shown in that figure, rays of light I6 are shown projected from one edge of the conductors l5 through the glass of the column II and through the cylindrical lens surface II f thereof, which lens surface, being convex, has the effect of materially dispersing said rays- I6 as they emerge 'from said lens surface. A similar effect is of course produced on light rays projected from any other portion of the conductors I5 through the glass of the column I I and through the convex lens surface I If. Similarly, light rays II projected from one edge portion of the conductors I5 through the glass of the column II and through the convex and cylindrical lens surface IIe are also dispersed and the light rays projected from other portions ofthe .conductors -l 5 through the lens surface l le are similarly dispersed with the eiiect of substantiallyl obscuring the view of the conductors through the lens sur- Furthermore, light rays i8 projected' convex, with the eiect of obscuring the detail of the conductors l5 as viewed through the lens iig. In connection with the lens Hg, it will be noted also that a similar dispersive eifect on rays projected from the conductors l5 through said lens is produced vertically on rays passing through different vertical locations on said lens surface. The combined action of the lens surfaces ile, ilf and iig on light rays projected through the column i i from the conductors |5,vis therefore t so vdiiuse and dispersesaid rays that visibility of the detail of the conductors l through the column l l is practically zero, whether the observer bein front of or on either'side of the lamp stand. Each oi the spherical lenses lig of course has an effect of the kind described. on the light rays projected through it from the conductors i5, and although the cylindrical lenses i le and Hf do not produce vertical dispersion or diiusion of the light rays projected from conductors i5, horizontal diffusion of said rays is sunicient to so obscure the detail of the conductors i5 as to make them practically invisible through the lenses lle and Hf. It will be understood that the lens surfaces Ile, llf and lig.

need not be convex surfaces to produce an equivalent of the ray diffusion described, since any form of lens surfaces may be employed Vthat will so obscure the detail of the conductors l5 that they are not readily visible through the glass of the column Il.

In addition to the lens surfaces referred to, the

column H may be provided with any desired.

forms of integral ornamentation as illustrated at i9 and 253,. and the base I0 may have any other form than that illustrated that will afford a stable support for the column Il, the only requisite in this connection, for economical production, being that whatever conformation may be given the various portions of the integral glass structure, the latter may be readily removed from the mold in which the structure is formed. Another advantage resulting from forming the lamp stands in metal molds as described, is that by giving the mold surfaces a smooth iinish throughout,

the resulting molded structures of glass will have a high degree of polish making it unnecessary to resort to further operations to finish the lamp stands. In some cases it may be desiredto produce lamp stands of the kind described, of other kinds of glass than that referred to, and I do not therefore limit myself to any particular kind of glass in carrying out my invention. It will be observed, however, that with clear and transparent glass, the optical effects of the lens surfaces. described are particularly eiective and important asto light rays passing through the column, in

f ticular embodiments above describedl a manner that is not the case where the glass is not transparent.

While I have shown my invention in 'the pardo'uot limit myself thereto as I may employ equivalents thereof without departing from the scope ci the appended claims. I

Having thus described my invention., what I claim is:

l. A one-piece mold-finished pressed glass supporting structure for electric lamps, including a base having a lower molded recess, a straight slender and solid column continuing and eX- tending vertically from said base, and a socketsupporting head continuing and extending verticallyk from said column, said column having similar front and back grooves formed in its suriace and extending longitudinally thereof from said base to` said head, said back groove being` for the reception of electrical conductors and said front groove containing small lenticular projections whereby thecross-section of said column is substantially symmetrical around thevertical axis of said column., and said base having-molded y front and back grooves formed in its surface and extending longitudinally thereof from said base to said head, said back groove being for the reception of electrical conductors and said front groove containing small lenticular projections whereby the cross-section of said column lis substantially symmetrical around the vertical axis of said column, and saidbase having molded apertures laterally and vertically through it for the reception of electrical conductors, said back groove continuing and opening laterally through said head.

. 3. A one-piece mold-finished pressed glass supbase having a lower molded recess, a straight slender and solid column continuing and extending vertically from said base, and a socket-supporting head continuingy and extending vertically from said column, said column having similar front and back grooves formed in its surface and extending longitudinally thereof from said base to said head, said back groove being for the reception of electrical conductors and said lfront groove containing small lenticular i projections whereby the cross-section of said column is substantially'symmetrical aroundv the vertical axis of said column, and said base having molded apertures laterally and vertically through it for the `reception of electrical conductors, said column EUGENE SCHWARZ. 

